It has been a gamble that Qantas still hopes will pay off as the beleaguered airline suffers one of the worst days in its history with pre-tax losses of $252 million and 5000 job cuts.

Acting as hosts to the Modern Family cast and crew during their time in Australia is estimated to have cost the ailing company up to $1 million, according to sources, but it was Qantas' backing that finally succeeded in bringing the hit TV show here.

Production on Modern Family is winding up after two weeks of filming across New South Wales and Queensland and when the holiday special airs later this year it will reach 125 million viewers worldwide.

Tourism stakeholders, among which Qantas is the largest, are hopeful that their investment will bear significant fruit; similar to the resulting cashflow from increased visitors after the filming of the Oprah and Ellen shows in Australia.

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After bringing Modern Family's 80 cast, crew and family members to Australia on a specially branded "Modern Family Flyer" A380, the airline has already scored numerous publicity wins, with the cast posting Instagram pictures of the flight and a glitzy Sydney Qantas-sponsored party they attended last week.

Although the party was marred by the alleged groping attack on actor Sarah Hyland outside the event, in general the hosts could not have hoped for a better outcome with Sydney in a frenzy over its visiting A-listers.

Modern Family's Julie Bowen at the media event in Sydney, sponsored by Qantas. Photo: Getty Images

Tony Webber, Qantas' former chief economist and now associate professor at Sydney University's business school, said the airline's spending could be anywhere in the region of $500,000-$1 million, a figure which "pales into insignificance" given the financial results out today.

"But lots of little things produce big things in the airline business and this is one of the little things they are trying," he said.

As well as paparazzi shots of filming featuring backdrops of Sydney Harbour, Bondi Beach and more reaching a worldwide audience, the cast have been prolific in posting Instagram and WhoSay shots of themselves in locations such as Whitsundays and Taronga Zoo.

Qantas refused to confirm the cost of hosting the production but a spokeswoman said: "Qantas provided international flights, as well as other support, around the filming of Modern Family episode in Australia as it was seen as a terrific opportunity to highlight Australia as a great holiday destination to a huge audience."

She added Qantas is committed to putting Australia on "the world stage", which benefits not only the airline but Australian tourism as a whole.

Tourism Australia's chief marketing officer Nick Baker said TV programs had an extensive reach long beyond the airing of the actual shows.

"It's the power of advocacy and the power of storytelling, and rather than interrupting people with what advertising can do, you can actually become part of the story. When you can embed your messages into something else as a platform, it's a really powerful way of getting to people," he said.

Oprah Winfrey filmed four episodes here in 2010, bringing with her 300 audience members who were hosted across Australia. Tourism Australia and its 16 partners stumped up $5.4 million to fund the trip, of which the government agency contributed $1.8 million. Yet the following year, half of US visitors to Australia said they had been influenced to come by Oprah's show.

Webber, who worked at Qantas at the time of Oprah's visit, said it was "a massive winner" for the airline, which gained not only increased passengers numbers but an increase in spending on "higher yield" seats in business and first class.

Ellen DeGeneres' visit last year was reported to have increased inbound flights by 22 per cent, Qantas has previously said.

Tracey Vieira, Screen Queensland's recently appointed chief executive, was instrumental in brokering the deal to bring Modern Family to Australia as part of her previous Los Angeles post with AusFilm, a government-industry partnership which lobbies to bring productions here.

She said negotiations began with Modern Family last August, but it was only when Qantas joined the mix, with incentives such as offsetting the cost of travelling, that the production was secured.

"Qantas know their demographic and the audience for this show is the perfect demographic who can afford to, and who want to, get on a plane and travel to a location such as Australia," Ms Vieira said.

"Seeing Australia through the eyes of one of these shows does actually encourage people to get on a plane, we've got the date and proof from previous shows."

She said that a 30-second ad slot during the show in the US cost in the region of $280,000 and aside from the benefits of free advertising, the show has created a boost to the local production industry.

Dwayne Johnson's earthquake disaster film San Andreas has just begun pre-production in Queensland with the film company claiming it is bringing 2700 jobs and $40 million to the local economy with it.

Qantas is being sought for comment.

9 comments so far

Of course it finally swayed them. They didn't have to fork out for 80 business class tickets. Imagine the savings on the whole shoot when Qantas takes 1 million for the team.

And they need to lay off 5000 staff today. Pffft.

Commenter

AussieA

Location

Date and time

February 27, 2014, 2:17PM

If 666.67 people @$1500 return from US book with QANTAS, thats $1,000,000. Thats approximately 2 full jumbos. Thats before you consider costs of the flight. On the face of it, it doesn't seem like a ridiculous investment. It would need to be considered with respect to its marketing budget, which is important in any industry relying on customer sales. Lets not get carried away with the media hyperbole and start bashing QANTAS. Save that for the Federal Politics section where the negativity pedalled by the media is in hyperdrive.

Commenter

Llama Farma

Location

Canberra

Date and time

February 27, 2014, 2:33PM

Money well spent

Commenter

Jet

Date and time

February 27, 2014, 3:18PM

Just how many planes did QANTAS repaint for the "Modern Family Flyer"? The pic you show is not an A380.

Was tempted to write "penny wise, pound foolish" but after today's appalling actions, I will just go with "foolish".

Commenter

Andrew

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 27, 2014, 5:19PM

They didn't paint the aircraft - they simply put a sticker on each side of the aircraft, which can easily be taken off. They wouldn't repaint an aircraft for this sort of activity

Commenter

Saz

Location

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 8:17AM

Can not for the life of me understand why there is not general debate linking Qantas's problems and its CEO. Joyce has been a disaster at the top from day 1 and has taken Qantas into the longest tail spin ever recorded, yet he remains in charge. It would make a wonderful Irish joke if it wasn't a fact.

Commenter

DavidH

Location

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 4:37AM

With very similar campaigns done recently with Oprah and Ellen, I do believe this is a great way to showcase AUSTRALIA on the world stage. Money well spent!

Commenter

Alan

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 4:42AM

The real tell is in whether any of the places/businesses that were visited by the Oprah and Ellen entourages have experienced a boost in patronage and sales as a result of those visits. Also, whether Tourism Australia can confirm beyond doubt that these "marketing devices" have brought about a boost in the tourist trade. There has been enough of a gap between those visits and now to be able to make a judgement on it.

If not, then no - it's not money well spent.

Commenter

bluc

Location

Geelong

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 8:53AM

The problem is that - aside from the strife that Qantas has been in this week - knowing their demographic doesn't mean that they will fly Qantas to Australia, especially when a lot of other decent airlines (including Virgin, Delta, Hawaiian Air and Air New Zealand) are much, much cheaper.